Unsaid
by fRiEnDsFaNaTiC
Summary: Set after 2nd season finale. Luke and Lorelai make up ... but will Luke reveal his true feelings? One parter. R/R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


*Hey guys. I wrote this for a contest, and it's so short because it had a page limit. This is only a one-parter, nothing more will be added. For readers of 'I'm With You', I'm working on chapter 6, but I figured I would get this posted to at least give you something. I own nothing, although I wish I owned Chad Michael Murray and those Steve Madden sandals. PLEASE REVIEW!!! And you if you haven't, please read my Trory/JavaJunkie fic, "I'm With You".*  
  
Lorelai stood outside of Luke's, knowing what she had to do. She peered in through the glass window and saw him standing behind the counter, writing something, probably an order. He glanced up and saw her looking at him. Quickly, he bent his head back down. She inhaled deeply, opened the door and nervously sat down on a stool. "Hi Luke."  
  
"Hey." He greeted, not raising his head to look at her.  
  
"Um…I guess I'll just have a coffee to go." Lorelai drummed her nails on the fake marble.  
  
"Great." Luke responded indifferently. He dropped the pen and turned around. She watched him as he grabbed a travel cup and filled it with the steaming, freshly brewed liquid. He snapped a lid on and placed the coffee in front of her. She smiled in thanks. He simply rang her up, still not looking at her. "$2.59." Lorelai dug three dollar bills out of her wallet. She slid the money over to him.  
  
"Keep the change." Luke ignored her last comment as he handed her a receipt and forty-one cents. She sighed and dropped the four dimes and one penny into her purse.  
  
"Luke…" She began, tired of fighting and missing her best friend.  
  
"Lorelai." He cut her off curtly.  
  
"Talk to me." She begged, going over to the side of the cash register.  
  
"We are talking. And you need to move." Lorelai took a step back, and Jess exited the kitchen, balancing two plates. He set them down on a table and walked past them again, without a word or a fleeting look.  
  
"Luke. I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry. I had no right to say any of those things to you. I was angry and upset and worried about Rory. You have to understand. That wasn't me shouting at you. That was Evil Bitch Lorelai that only shows herself when her daughter is hurt and she needs someone to blame. I'm sorry. Nothing was your fault, and I had no right to lash out at you." Luke, who had been leaning against the counter, staring at the cash register the whole time, slowly escalated his head and searched her face, knowing she wasn't finished. Lorelai's eyes softened and she continued.  
  
"You have done such a great job with Jess. You let him stay with you, not really knowing him or what to expect. You tried to straighten him out. You set rules and he kind of followed them. You didn't go all 'Major Payne' on him." She raised her arms and made quotations with her hands when she said 'Major Payne'. "You were stern when you had to be. When he screwed up, you punished him. You are so brave for taking him into your life. Our lives. You defend him when he's looked down on. He respects you. I respect you."  
  
They stared at each other for a few minutes. Lorelai looked about ready to cry, and Luke's heart broke. "I don't know what else to say. I miss you." Her chin trembled, and he forgave her right then and there.  
  
"I miss you too." She smiled as he spoke the first words as a friend in days. He gave a rare grin as he walked into her outstretched arms. "I'm sorry too. I should've accepted your first apology." Luke expressed his regret to her as they hugged.  
  
Lorelai shook her head. "It's completely okay. I didn't deserve it." They separated. "Obviously, my stubbornness has rubbed off on you." She grinned.  
  
"That could be a good or bad thing." He commented playfully, smiling. "We're good?"  
  
"We're good." She nodded.  
  
"You want some pie?"  
  
"Do I drink coffee?" She replied rhetorically.  
  
"There isn't that much pie in the state of Connecticut." Luke teased, his face serious. She sat back down on the stool. "What kind?"  
  
"What do you have?"  
  
"Pecan and strawberry-rhubarb."  
  
"Both please." Lorelai beamed sweetly, like a little girl as he set the pastries in front of her. She grabbed her fork and hungrily dug in.  
  
"So Rory's in Washington, huh?" Luke asked, watching her eat in a half- fake disgust.  
  
"For six weeks." Pieces of pecan were spewed onto his arm. He wiped them off with a dishtowel, revolted, and she giggled. She gulped down the last of her to-go coffee, and he got her a new cup, fully loaded. "Thanks." She sipped it. "I don't know what I'm going to do without her for so long. I get lonely." Lorelai finished the pecan pie and started in on the strawberry-rhubarb.  
  
"Why don't I come over tonight? We can watch a movie." He suggested, casual on the outside, a wreck within. She gazed at Luke gratefully.  
  
"I'll get the movie." She drank the last taste of her coffee and ate the last bite of pie.  
  
"I'll bring food. See you at eight?" He proposed. Lorelai nodded and stood up, meeting him at the side of the counter.  
  
"See you then." She wrapped her arms around his neck, and, hesitantly, Luke snaked his hands around her waist. They broke apart and she kissed him on the cheek. "Bye."  
  
"Bye." He called after her as she walked out of the diner.  
  
  
  
Around 8:05 that night, Luke anxiously rang the doorbell. In one hand, he clutched a box of burgers, both cow and veggie, and fries. Lorelai jumped up from the couch, panicked for some reason. "Hey." He greeted when she opened the door.  
  
"Hey." She eyed the box at his side. "Oooh, what did you bring?"  
  
"Burgers, fries, water-." He rattled off as they entered the kitchen.  
  
"Eww."  
  
"For me." He set the box down on the table and Lorelai got out plates.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Soda, and cookies." Luke finished. "What movie did you get? I'm actually afraid to ask." He joked, taking the food out of their doggy bags and onto the dish.  
  
"I have excellent taste in movies and you know it. I got Con-Air."  
  
"Never saw it."  
  
"Sinner." They went into the living room with their food and sat down on the couch.  
  
Later, after the movie had ended, Lorelai shut the television off and Luke turned to her on the couch. "Lorelai-." This was it. He was going to tell her he loved her. He hoped she would…he wasn't sure what he hoped she would do. But at least he was going to tell her. He had avoided it for years for many reasons. Boyfriends, timing, but most of all, he didn't want to lose her friendship. It meant too much to him.  
  
"Luke." She deepened her voice, mocking him from earlier that day. He, however, ignored it.  
  
"I've been meaning to tell you something for a while. I…" He trailed off, starting to perspire under the pressure of Lorelai's stare. "I'm really glad we're friends." He sighed inwardly, unbelievably disappointed in himself. He had chickened out. Again.  
  
"I'm glad we're friends too, Luke." They hugged for the third time that day. Her face was twisted into perplexity. "But that's what you've been waiting to tell me?" Luke nodded, clasping his hands and raising his eyebrows. Maybe next time. 


End file.
